Filthy NS Camp Ordered To Clean Up Or Shut Down

Rozainor's finger pointed at the camp operator in that the operator had failed to provide proper food and dormitory facilities – a shortcoming admitted by a top official of the camp management itself.

"The operators are the ones in charge of food, accomodation and general cleanliness. We are renting this camp from them.

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White Resort is being operated by a Penang-based company which also owns national service camps in Kulim and Melaka. Major Abdul Hamid Man heads the camp management and is assisted by 50 personnel. We run the programme but the operator seemed to have failed to live up to their end of the bargain," Rozainor.

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The National Service Training Department (JLKN) Thursday ordered the operator of the White Resort training camp here to improve facilities and the quality of meals within a week.

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“We have given the operator a week’s warning to improve on its cleanliness or else we will take serious action,” Rozainor said. “We will not hesitate to close down the camp if they do not take care of its hygienic aspects within this period,” he added.

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"I will come for another visit to check on improvements. If the changes are not up to mark, we will not hesitate to shift to another camp and we have done this before," National Service Training Department (NSTD) acting director-general Rozainor Ramli.

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"We met with the trainees and they are all enthusiastic about continuing with the training until Oct 31, but are just unhappy with the standard of cleanliness, accommodation facilities and preparation of meals," he told reporters after a surprise visit to the camp.

bernama.com.my

A group of National Service (NS) trainees from the White Resort camp here want to leave the programme over deplorable conditions such as insufficient food and broken toilet locks.

More than 200 trainees at White Resort Camp in Balik Pulau, were traumatised by what they described as ‘horrible’ living conditions.

nst.com.my

On Tuesday night, about 200 trainees were reported to have assembled with their bags and insisted on leaving the camp because they were unhappy with the accommodation facilities and preparation of meals.

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Their steely resolve to complete their three-month long training despite being allegedly forced to sleep on broken beds and filthy pillows and put up with unsanitary conditions ended on Wednesday when the trainees packed up their bags to leave the camp.

nst.com.my

"Most of the things here are covered with rust. A leg on my bunk bed is broken.
"Our mattresses and pillows are filthy and full of stains," said a trainee from Johor Baru.

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One claimed to have even found a worm in the food tray of her half-eaten meal. The trainees, who protested at the camp’s gates that night, made a distress call to their parents and were set on not returning to their quarters, which they described as being "worse than prison".

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The source said that the amount of food for trainees had also decreased, adding that in the past, each trainee had received around 125gm of chicken meat for their meal but this had been reduced by a third.

A source told The Star that the camp used to be one of the best NS sites in the country when it was opened about five years ago.

“It is now so badly maintained that it can be considered one of the worst in the country now,” he said. “Clogged sinks and toilets are a daily occurrence here. Even the broken bed frames are not re­­placed.”

Several relatives of National Service (NS) trainees at the White Resort Camp here gathered at the camp yesterday to request permission from the management to bring the trainees home.

theborneopost.com

Checks by the New Straits Times at the camp yesterday morning saw worried parents lining the opposite gates of the camp, determined to take their children home.

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One of the trainees’ brother, who declined to be named, said that he received a call from his sister on Tuesday night, asking him to pick her up from the camp.

“But, I was denied access after travelling all the way from Perak,” he said. “I waited at the office for almost two hours, only to be told that I could not see her.

The father of a trainee who declined to be identified said his son complained that the preparation of meals was unhygienic and facilities at the camp were old and dirty.

theborneopost.com

"A week ago, he called me lamenting about the dirty toilets, contaminated food and damaged bed". The father of one trainee said he was concerned about the food, which his son had said was poorly prepared.

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"I regret having to send my son to the camp. From what I heard, prison conditions are probably better than this camp's."

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“She had told me that she could not stand the camp’s unkempt condition. She even found worms in her food. It’s a miracle no one came down with food poisoning,” a trainee's brother.

However, National Service Training Department camp officials convinced them to return to their dorms. They did so only after the officers assured them that their grouses would be looked into.

nst.com.my

It is understood that training yesterday was suspended as the camp held a dialogue with the students that lasted more than two hours.
The trainees raised their grouses and asked for an assurance that conditions would be improved soon.

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PLKN acting chief Rozainor Ramli, when contacted, assured the trainees and their parents that immediate measures would be put in place to improve conditions at the camp.

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An investigation would also be carried out following the trainees' complaints of the food. "We will call our food supplier in."

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Rozainor said the trainees should give some leeway if conditions at the camp were not up to scratch, saying that it was, after all, akin to a military training camp. "Trainees cannot expect to get the feel and comfort of home."

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Reporters were not allowed to visit the camp’s facilities and were instructed to wait at the office for more than two hours before being told to leave the site.

When approached, camp commander Mej Abdul Hamid Man refused to comment and said that the matter “will be dealt with internally”.

South West District Police chief Supt Mohd Hatta Mohd Zain, when contacted, said the police had not received any report on the incident.

theborneopost.com

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